My Happy Place

Back in April I started gardening.  It didn't take me long to realize that taking care of a garden is incredibly hard work, that you really can't take a day off.  You must have a lot of patience, as a tomato or zucchini plant takes roughly 45-60 days to produce vegetables.  That said, I believe most folks today would starve if they had to grow their own food.  Those who didn't starve would be in jail for stealing.  

April

My husband, more than doubled my space for this year.  Since I mostly eat plants and veggies, he felt it was a good investment.  Sydney recently had a physical and told her doctor that she is a vegetarian.  She told him she still likes chicken and turkey, but only sometimes. I have already caught her sneaking tomatoes into her pockets.  

June

Several varieties of tomatoes

I wake up every morning, make coffee, and walk outside to my deck.  I live in a quiet suburb which is very peaceful at 6:30am.  I take a quick walk through my garden to survey any bunny carnage before I turn on the hose.  I planted several small rows of lettuce for the bunnies, hoping they would stay away from all my other plants.  Obviously, they were not happy with that offering as they dug up or destroyed my garlic, herbs, and all but one asparagus plant.

Bunnies can't eat my lettuce and herbs up here

Last year I picked tomatoes until Halloween from my front yard.  I had over 60 green tomatoes, which I was advised to wrap in newspaper and store in the basement.  I was surprised to find most of them ripe over the next six weeks. They were delicious.  Who knew?

Volunteer in the front yard

Zucchini's are blooming

Five zucchini harvest in one day

I  planted some blackberry bushes, unfortunately they will not produce until next year.   We tried blueberry bushes, but they did not like the soil very much and died a few weeks after planting.  The apple tree below has been trying to die for several years.  It has taken the tree a while to catch on that I was not giving up on it.  As you can see, the tree has decided to hang around.

Our apple tree finally bears fruit


  Our grape vine looks amazing and fills out more every year. The vine also provides shade to half of our deck.  Maybe this year Jim will get to make wine. When my husband first started growing this I was skeptical.  Know I am a believer. 

Grape vine covers half our deck

There is a huge flea market in Wentzville every Sunday.  Jim picked up the beauties below, plus two more for $20.  Those plants easily sell for  $20 a piece at Home Depot or Lowes.  All four plants were thrilled when I transplanted them over the weekend into bigger pots.   Whew, that was a lot of work too.   

Pretty tropical flowers

Tropical tree 

I look forward to eating from my garden.  I have put a lot of love, muscle, and time into it.  I will be sharing the wealth with family and friends too. Give me a holler if you are local and want to try some.  I gave my sister a small container of baby tomatoes and three zucchini's yesterday. The tomatoes were gone before I left.  

Icicle radishes.  Super hot and spicy

Bunnies got my first purple pepper

 Thanks for letting me share my happy place with you. What a feeling of accomplishment to grow something.  Try it!  I love the fact that I know where my veggies came from and that they are not covered in pesticides.  Now, if I can just keep the bunnies out........